New Heights and Jersey Intensity sit on top of leader board at end of pool play

After the sixth league date of the Regional Outdoor Club League, the final round of pool play concluded and the clubs that will be competing in the Championship knockout series have been decided. In a round-robin format, every team played each other over a period of eight weeks during six competition dates.

In the U-16 division, there were two undefeated clubs. New Heights and FC United who are ranked first and second and are heading into the Championship knockout series as the all-out favorites. For the last playoff spot of eighth place, G-Force narrowly beat out Princeton FHC. Both teams have seven points, however, G-Force broke the tie with one more win than Princeton HC which was the second tie breaker according to tournament rules.

In the U-19 Division the only undefeated club was Jersey Intensify FH who won six games and drew three goals. With excellent goal tending and consistent play each week, they are heading into the championship knockout series as the favorites. However, South Jersey Edge, FC United and Total Dutch will surely be standing in the way as all of these teams demonstrated a high level of consistent play throughout the league.

The competitive nature of the inaugural premier outdoor league is reflected in the results as 35 percent of the games played in both divisions ended in a tie and four of the eight clubs heading to the Championship conceded an average of one goal or less per game. We may be preparing ourselves for a low scoring, yet severely competitive Championship series.

On Sunday, June 9 the U-16 Championship will be held at Princeton University and the U-19 Championship at Rutgers University on the universities’ water-base turf. We thank both universities for allowing us the use of these fine facilities and hope we can continue this relationship for years to come for the benefit of the kids and the growth of the sport of field hockey.

We hope to see everyone on June 9 showing your support for the Junior Premier Outdoor League and your favorite club on this Championship weekend where the first ever JPOL winners in both the U-16 and U-19 Divisions will be presented with the Junior Premier Hockey Challenge Trophies.